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Skarlthoondarammarus
Once there was a green dragon named Skarlthoondarammarus, “Skarlthoon” to all (including herself) in her latter centuries, but even better known as Snarljaws for her quick temper and nasty, vindictive nature (she would chase and repeatedly try to destroy humans who’d escaped her, where other dragons would shrug and seek better prey). She had three lairs, one of them a classic mountain cavern stuffed full of treasure, that’s almost impossible for a non-flying creature to get to—and Skarlthoon found it cold and inhospitable. So she used it only for treasure storage. She had a lair in the northwest reaches of the High Forest, a snug cavern atop a ridge southwest of the Lost Peaks, in heavily-forested terrain that bears repeatedly claimed—so she would breathe each time she descended into it, to “reclaim” it from these interlopers. It was where she would retreat to, to heal and sleep. Skarlthoon’s third lair was her open-to-the-skies “resting lair,” a hollow in the jagged rocks atop the northeasternmost spur of the Kyryptgarden peaks, where she would land and nap (between dives to snatch up cattle, deer, wagon-pulling oxen, and other ready meals, in the open country of the Dessarin valley). Skarlthoon contracted an unknown disease from an unknown source (Elminster thinks it was probably from infected prey she devoured) sometime in the 1330s. By the end of that decade it had eaten away her scales, making her very fearful of other dragons. She took to furtive flights by night, and stopped using her resting-lair entirely. The disease continued to eat at her flesh, eroding muscle and strength. She became more reclusive, weaker, and far less active, moss grew on her, and she died in 1348 DR, perishing in a crash landing near Westbridge as she sought to fly one last time, and her strength gave out in the air. Lhammaruntosz, the Claws of the Coast, was well aware of Skarlthoon’s territory, and despite being a younger and more vigorous dragon, still didn’t want to be bothered with a feud with such a nasty older rival. So Lhammaruntosz avoided Skarlthoon’s usual hunting grounds until word spread of her death (as her demise and remains were so public, word got around, as opposed to the more usual “Dragon such-and-such just hasn’t been seen, lately”). However, Lhammaruntosz saw Skarlthoon’s passing as an ideal opportunity to claim a rich territory to be her own—and took it. She started by using the exposed-to-the-elements “resting lair,” in 1349 DR, and from it cautiously exploring east and south into the High Forest, where she “knew” (from spying on Skarlthoon for years) Skarlthoon must have a “proper” lair, somewhere. However, Lhammaruntosz wasn’t the only dragon seeking to claim Skarlthoon’s domain. Aside from several of the wide-ranging dragons described in my other “Wyrms of the North” articles, whose demesnes overlapped parts of Skarlthoon’s, there was yet another dragon lurking in the area, an elder wyrm whispered of in lore as Araunthroun “the Shapechanger.” (References often thought to refer to a Netherese or other ancient human mage, not a dragon at all.) This blue dragon is truly ancient (almost three thousand years old), and magically prolonged his life not by going lichnee, but through a self-devised process that drained magic from items. The drawback was that his physical form slowly but inexorably faded into translucent, ghostly intangibility. He could regain physical solidity for a time by making his body smaller, and that’s what he did, calling on powers of magic items he hadn’t drained to transform his outward likeness into that of a human so as to dwell among (hide among) humans. Where he tried to work with various human mages to master more magic to prolong his body. These human mages were self-interested, and their progress towards what Araunthroun craved was slow, so Araunthroun (who had lairs of his own in the Fallen Lands, formerly stuffed with Netherese magic items gained when many of its cities crashed and some archwizards went mad, but now depleted thanks to years of draining magic from them) went seeking Skarlthoon’s hoard, that must lie hidden somewhere in the High Forest. Inevitably Lhammaruntosz and Araunthroun came into conflict (circa the summer of 1353 DR). They fought several skirmishes as both continued to explore the High Forest for dragon lairs—as Lhammaruntosz grew stronger, into her prime, and Araunthroun became ever more ghostly (and gained the nickname “the Ghost Dragon” from some humans who’d seen him) and intangible. Not wanting to risk discovery of the best of his remaining magic if Lhammaruntosz magically spied on him from afar, Araunthroun took to using an old, long-abandoned dragon-hold in his territory (the “hidden hold” that did indeed lie south and east of Secomber, in the broken land along the northern edge of the High Moor; its entrance is a narrow crack between the jagged rocks of a knife-edged ridge, that descends into sizeable caverns beneath) as the base from which to continue exploring the High Forest. He moved what he deemed the “least useful” magic items from his hoard, those he intended to drain, to it—and would replenish his fading self from them whenever necessary. In the spring of 1358 DR, after a vicious battle above the trees of the southern High Forest, Araunthoun fled to this lair, and Lhammaruntosz pursued him there and “slew” him, taking the lair for her own. With it she gained a score or so of magic items, and the security she sought. She went on exploring the High Forest, and in the fullness of time found Skarlthoon’s magic-filled lair in the northwest—and relocated there, because it was far more remote and sheltered and to her liking. Taking the magic items with her, and abandoning the “hidden hold.” However, Araunthoun wasn’t dead. Rather, weak and unable to harm his foe because of his intangibility, he had “gone ghost” completely, and sunk into one of the items, biding his time to re-emerge. He has since done so, stealing away from the High Forest lair of Lhammaruntosz with just two magic items in his claws, while she was out hunting in the high summer of 1374 DR. He hid those items in one of his old Fallen Lands lairs, and then hid himself in another, where legends and rumors are slowly drawing ambitious humans into his grasp (he has already easily overcome two of the overconfident mages of Shade, who seem utterly unprepared for someone patiently and subtly invading their minds—as opposed to challenging them and waging a duel) and making him stronger. Araunthoun is still lurking in hiding in the Fallen Lands to this day. He drains the lives and wits of some victims, and merely spies out of the eyes of others, or by subtle manipulations causes them to spread fresh rumors of treasure that will bring more adventurers within his reach. He intends, above all, to regain solidity and fresh vigor, and “truly live again,” but is ruled now by prudent patience, and can wait. A long, long time, if need be. Before he returns to crush and devour Lhammaruntosz—and every other being that has ever crossed, belittled, or bested him. There you go. Long-hidden Realmslore, revealed here first. Category:Green dragons